Former CIA officer Sabrina De Sousa has been left out in the cold by both President Barack Obama and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. (Interview/Vice on YouTube; snip)

Former CIA officer Sabrina De Sousa is about to be extradited to Italy, sentenced to prison for serving the US government in accordance with the policy of the president at the time. De Sousa has, like others, been abandoned by the government she served, and her case illustrates the characteristic hypocrisy of Hillary Clinton.

Mrs. Clinton may say she cares about women, but she coldly booted this female CIA officer to the curb. Why?

No media are talking about the dilemma Mrs. Clinton faces when it comes to the matter of extraordinary rendition. To even utter those words will open up a large can of Clinton worms.

Mrs. Clinton was warned by her confidante Sidney Blumenthal about commenting on the issue behind the case, extraordinary rendition. So far Clinton is following Blumenthal’s advice, leaving De Sousa out in the cold despite the fact others involved in a rendition in Italy in 2003 will not go to prison. Target of the rendition was an anti-American Egyptian religious fanatic and cleric named Abu Omar.

What is extraordinary rendition?

Extraordinary rendition has long been a practice of the US government. The dictionary definition sums it up:

“secret or forcible rendition of a suspected criminal to another country,often a country known to violate human rights and due process of law”

As the US confronted acts of terror here in the homeland since the early 1990s, extraordinary rendition made it possible for a suspect to be interrogated abroad, thereby dodging constitutional rights that would apply here.

Many in media have typically criticized the practice, just as they have criticized enhanced interrogation techniques. Media have ignored threats to the US interior for many years, just as our government does, possibly because of the influence of foreign interests who buy up our debt.

What media don’t ignore are the piles of bodies of innocent Americans caught in the crosshairs of a war politicians refuse to prosecute properly. Politicians don’t ignore those dead bodies either, eagerly taking to the stump to propose gun controls and hate crime laws that will never stop the violence from fanatics.

Many elected leaders can’t even define the war that reaches around the globe, taking lives of Muslims, Christians, Jews, and anyone else who does not yield to imperial Islamists bent ultimately on holding all power.

Why is De Sousa about to head to a prison in Italy?

De Sousa served, said the website Vice, as a translator “between the CIA snatch team and the Italians a year before the rendition was executed.” She wasn’t present when the rendition came down. Others who participated have been pardoned. De Sousa, however, defied a travel ban imposed on officers who were part of the operation.

De Sousa said she wanted to go see her family in Portugal.

Why did Blumenthal tell Hillary not to comment on extraordinary rendition?

Vice cited an email exchange between Blumenthal and Clinton. The email was obtained via a FOIA suit:

“Clinton has shied away from discussing the CIA’s torture program. Indeed, in a private email sent to Clinton in 2009 by her unofficial adviser Sidney Blumenthal — and released to VICE News last year, in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit — Clinton was told to “avoid ever being drawn into commenting on any aspect” of the program.

“The distraction will not go away,” Blumenthal wrote.

Why would the distraction not go away?

For one thing, Mrs. Clinton’s husband Bill, when he held the White House, was an avid proponent of extraordinary rendition. Even leftwing extremist groups like the ACLU admit Mr. Clinton used the program. What those same groups don’t admit is how much he used it.

In his book Hard Measures, former CIA officer Jose A. Rodriguez noted, “More than seventy prisoners had been clandestinely moved in the seven years leading up to September 11.” [print ed., pg. 112] That was Bill Clinton’s tactic for dealing with potential terrorists, and that is why Mrs. Clinton won’t go near the topic.

The practice increased after September 11, 2001, a fact the ACLU seemed perplexed by. Then again, the ACLU does not have US national security or US citizens’ best interests in mind, in my opinion. More than 3,000 dead innocent Americans are apparently of little concern to a leftwing extremist group bent on using lawfare to prevent our government from fulfilling the primary role of the federal government—national defense.

Why have media refused to ask Mrs. Clinton about De Sousa or rendition?

National political media happily thump a Republican candidate every chance they get. When it comes to Mr. and Mrs. Clinton, however, that is simply not the case. As Mrs. Clinton preaches a Kumbaya approach to dealing with international terrorists bent on wreaking destruction on the US, no media have called her out on various statements about “torture.”

I suspect when you are sitting in the Oval Office, technically responsible for hundreds of millions of lives and a world war is raging, you adopt a different perspective on what is and isn’t torture. Obama’s weapon of choice is the drone, increasing the use of it by more than 10 times compared to President George W. Bush.

It almost goes without saying—you don’t live to talk about a drone strike, usually. With enhanced interrogation you do, as numerous lawsuits and victimology advocates have shown. That said, a president has the option to do what he believes is necessary to protect this country. Globalism only really works well if the world comprises unicorns. Otherwise, nothing beats national sovereignty, particularly in a country whose founding documents limit government powers on a level no other country in the history of the world can claim.

The terrorists bent on destroying the US represent no single country. They are not military troops—they are rogue enemy combatants who will eagerly take an innocent life in the name of a god they have remade in their own terrible image.

De Sousa said in a video interview with Vice she had written to then-secretary of state Hillary Clinton, asking her to “invoke diplomatic immunity” on DeSousa’s behalf.

“I never heard back from her at all,” said the former CIA officer.

Apparently, Mrs. Clinton is once again, just as she did when she promoted the US engaging in Libya’s war, following Mr. Blumenthal’sadvice to the letter.

Meanwhile, Vice said the Egyptian cleric whose anti-American activism started the whole ball rolling, has said De Sousa should be pardoned.

(Commentary by Kay B. Day/June 14, 2016)

Please help indie sites by sharing our content on social media. Legacy search engines offer few opportunities for independent publishers. We welcome donations in any amount to help us continue to publish. You can support DOTD by using the PayPal link in the sidebar.

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

About Kay Day

Kay B. Day is a freelance writer who has published in national and international magazines and websites. The author of 3 books, her work is anthologized in textbooks and collections. She has won awards for poetry, nonfiction and fiction. Day is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors and the Authors Guild.